Notre Dame Flexes Offensive Muscle in Win Vs. Virginia

No. 12 Notre Dame flexed its offensive depth in its first home game as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, beating No. 6 Virginia, 18-9, indoors in South Bend Sunday night.

The conference showed some depth of its own with Notre Dame’s win and it’s 2-0 start in the new league. Wins won’t come easy for anyone this season in the stacked ACC, the country’s toughest lacrosse conference.

Notre Dame scored nine goals in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Cavaliers. The team also scored seven in the second quarter to open up its first lead of the day. A consistent effort from senior Liam O’Connor at the face-off X provided his team with long streaks of sustained offensive pressure.

“So much of it was the face-off game,” Irish coach Kevin Corrigan said. “When you’re playing make it, take it like that and not only winning but putting pressure on them possession after possession that’s tough.”

O’Connor lost the first two draws of the game then won 19 of the next 22 that he took in his most dominant performance of the year to date. He said he changed his approach after the first quarter and picked up confidence from there. He also added a goal and two assists on quick strikes directly after winning a face-off.

“I noticed that his hands were a little quick. I just tried to get into his body and push him off the ball a little bit more so I could control it,” he said.

Sophomore All-American Matt Kavanagh led the way for a balanced Notre Dame offensive attack with four goals and two assists. Ten different players scored for the Irish. Nick Ossello scored three times and Sergio Perkovic and John Scioscia each had two apiece.

Virginia sharpshooter John Pannell had a few quality looks early in the game, but couldn’t convert any of them. The Cavaliers turned to Mark Cockerton for their offense. He had three goals, including one to start the third quarter in which Virginia managed to close the gap to a three-goal deficit after trailing 8-3 at the half.

O’Connor’s second-quarter adjustment paid almost immediate dividends. Notre Dame’s offense thawed on a chilly night in Indiana during a five-goal stretch to take command of the game. O’Connor scored seven seconds after a goal from sophomore Trevor Brosco to open the floodgates.

“I felt in the second quarter we never had the ball,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. “We started out strong in the first quarter, but in the second quarter we never had the ball and that’s when they put together some things.”

Both teams showed patience on offense during the first quarter, trading long possessions while getting a feel for one another. Freshmen goalies Shane Doss and Matt Barrett, Inside Lacrosse’s No. 1 goalie prospect this year, each stopped three of the first four shots they faced to keep the score low in the first 15 minutes.

Virginia senior Zed Williams struck first with an overhand shot from Doss’s right side four minutes into the game. Sergio Perkovic finally solved Barrett with seven seconds left in the quarter. He got on an open look from right in front of the cage and fired a shot past Barrett’s left shoulder.

Doss, who started his first career game in a 10-7 loss to Denver last week, finished the game with nine saves. Corrigan said he was happy with the rookie's performance. He gave up a few he shouldn’t have, the coach said, but he also stole a few from the Cavaliers. Barrett made 10 saves before falling apart in the fourth quarter.

The loss is Virginia’s second of the season, dropping the Cavaliers to 6-2 overall and 1-1 in the ACC. Notre Dame stayed unbeaten in the conference with wins over No. 2 North Carolina and No. 6 Virginia.

It was a much-needed win for Corrigan’s team. The Irish had fallen to 2-2 after losing to Denver in California last week and were in risk of being shackled with their first losing record since 2002 if they had lost at home Sunday.

“Especially coming off the loss to Denver, we had a lot of guys who were disappointed. We wanted to make sure we came out and won an ACC game and kind of assert ourselves in the league,” O’Connor said. “At the end of the year the ACC is the best conference in the country. If we can beat teams like UVa and UNC, teams like that, we’re going to be really good towards the end.”

With eight of the top 10 teams in the nation on their schedule, more challenges lay ahead for O’Connor and the Irish. Virginia has to run a similar gauntlet in the coming weeks. The Cavaliers face Johns Hopkins next weekend before getting back to ACC play against Maryland and North Carolina in the next three weeks.

“This year in particular I’d used the work epic, almost, to describe what’s going on here,” Starsia said. “Week in and week out these are the kind of games we’re going to have.

Corrigan agreed.

“That’s why as great as this is it’s one win in a league where the next time you tee it up it’s going to be a top 10 team,” he said. “And no matter if you win or lose that one the next time it’s going to be a top 10 team. You better come ready to play and you better button up. Everybody plays hard in this league. It’s great fun.”

Notre Dame travels to Ohio State on March 25 before heading to Syracuse to close out the month of March.